Open your Bibles with me to 1
Corinthians chapter 10. Our subject is the Lord's Table, and that's our uppermost thought
this evening. But I begin with this comment. This is a most religious world
in which we live, especially our day and our generation. And these religious people of our day and generation,
they have many thoughts concerning this large table, this subject. And they have many opinions regarding
this ordinance of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we gather here
in his name to celebrate. The religious world calls this
Lord's table a sacrament. Now that's not a bad word. The
old timers used to use it quite a bit, but they used it in a
different way from the way that the Catholics use it today. The
Catholic Church and some other places look upon the Lord's Table
as a sacrament, meaning a saving ordinance. A saving ordinance. That by which men are saved from
their sins. But when you talk about a sacrament,
you may be, the old timers used to talk about it as a means of
grace. They talk about it as a saving
ordinance, but these old timers talk about it as a source, not
of salvation, but it's the wellspring, it's a means of grace, and it's
the wellspring of redemption which we find in Christ. It's
not a saving ordinance. The Catholic Church has seven
recognized sacraments. This may be important to you,
it may not, but they recognize seven saving ordinances called
sacraments. One is baptism. Your baptism contributes to your
salvation. Then there's confirmation, when
the young people are confirmed in the faith. That's a way of
salvation. And then the Eucharist, which
is the Holy Communion, or the Lord's Table, but they call it
the Holy Communion, and that's a saving ordinance. And to give
them penance, that's the confession, the confession of sins. They
have to come before the priest to confess their sins, and that
absolves them. That puts away their sins. Make
a confession, you put it away. Baptism puts it away. Confirmation
puts it away. The Eucharist puts it away. The
Penance puts it away. And then they have what they
call the Holy Orders. The Holy Orders are the establishment
of the priesthood. See, they have to have not Christ
our great high priest, but a human priest, to intercede for them
and to give them the Eucharist. And then there's matrimony, that's
a saving ordinate. And then number seven, the last
rites, when they put away their sins forever. So those are called
sacraments, but we don't call this a sacrament, in the sense
that it's a saving, or it's not saving, it's a means of grace. And Jesus Christ, our Lord, is
the source and the wellspring of redemption. We find all we
need in Him. Again, some people look upon
this ordinance as a mere ritual. They come to the communion or
the large table or this particular gathering as a form and a ceremony
to help them feel religious and to help them spiritually some
way to overcome their fears. But this is not a ritual. The
Apostle Paul used more meaningful terms than sacrament and rituals
and these things. The Apostle Paul used words that
I want to talk about from this scripture here in 1 Corinthians
chapter 10. So let's look at it in 1 Corinthians
chapter 10. I want you to look at verse 14. My dearly beloved, flee from
idolatry. That's the way this particular
portion that deals with the Lord's Table starts out. And the reason
Paul starts it out this way is these people that are involved
in idolatry in observing the Lord's Table as a sacrament or
Eucharist or whatever. So Paul starts out, My dearly
beloved, flee from idolatry. Idolatry of any sort, of any
sort, which is particularly offensive to our God. I shall have no other
God before me. I shall not make unto thee any
graven image. I shall not take the name of
the Lord thy God in vain. Idolatry is particularly offensive
to our God. And not only the worship of idols,
or an act of idolatry, What's the very appearance of idolatry? Even if it smells like idolatry. You see what he's talking about?
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from it. Kill it. Stay away from it. Idolatry.
Now here's what I want you to look at. Picture the way that
in which many places observed this ordinance. Back
when I was in the Navy, we went into an invasion of Iwo Jima
and we had a Catholic priest come on board the ship with all
of his paraphernalia in order to give the Lord's Table to us
who were on the ship and the Marines who were there to invade
that island. And I remember, I didn't know
much about what's going on here, but I got up with the rest of
them and they had all these crosses and uniforms and different things
like that and we got in line and we kneeled, 350 marines and
120 sailors, and we kneeled and stuck our tongues while a priest
dipped in his garb and fancy robes, dipped a wafer in the
wine and put it on my tongue and on the next tongue. Some
of you men know what I'm talking about, you've been there. Well
that's the way they observed the Lord's table. Surrounded
by beautiful buildings and stately edifices and crosses
everywhere, crosses everywhere, and uniforms of religion, robes,
and the incense, and then the kneelings, and then the assistance
of these priests. Now when our Lord came to take
that last supper, the Passover, when he came to observe that
first large table, he didn't even own the building. It was
somebody else's house. He sent his disciples to find
a man who had a house already, just an ordinary dwelling, no
temple, no synagogue, no church, just an ordinary building. And
then he went there with the disciples and they came in not dressed
up, not with robes, fisherman garb. And they came in and he
got bread and wine. Ordinary unleavened bread and
wine. And they sat, they didn't kneel,
they sat together around the table. And our Lord says, you,
take this bread. He took it, broke it, gave thanks,
gave it to you. Simplicity. Flee idolatry. Flee anything that looks like
it, smells like it, smacks of it. Run from it as fast as you
can. It's not of God. That's right. He is the one. That's the primary
object, person of our faith. Christ Jesus. So I tell you,
he said in verse 14, flee from idolatry. Flee from it. And verse
15, I'm speaking to you as wise men. I'm speaking to you as wise
men, and you judge what I say. You be careful. I speak to intelligent
men, whom God has made intelligent, sensible men and women, whom
God has given them a sound mind and a discerning heart. And I
speak to believing men and women. And Paul said, you listen to
what I'm saying. You listen to what I say. Flee
idolatry. especially in regard to this
blessed ordinance called the Lord's Table. The Lord's Table. Alright, the next verse. The
next verse. Verse 16. This cup of blessings,
this cup of blessings which we bless, Is it not the communion
of the blood of Christ? Isn't that what this is? This bed which we break, is it
not the communion of the body of Christ? What does that mean,
this cup? He said this cup of blessing. This cup of blessing. Well, it's
the cup of It's the blessings of the cup of his suffering.
His suffering. He referred to it quite often.
I want you to turn to a few scriptures. First John chapter 18. John chapter
18. The cup. Our Lord's cup. This cup is the cup of suffering. His suffering. Listen to John
18 verse 10. This is when they came to the
garden to arrest him and John 18, 10. Then Simon Peter, having
a sword, drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, cut off
his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put
up your sword into the sheep. This cup The cup which my father
has given me, shall I not drink it? That's the cup I'm talking
about. The cup of his sufferings. And
then when he prayed in Gethsemane's garden, he said, Father, if it
be possible for this cup to pass from me, if not, I will be done. Not my will, but I will be. This
is the cup. The cup of suffering. This cup
which we bless, this cup is the cup of his suffering. And then
secondly, this cup is the cup of the new covenant. Now Jim
read about that. Turn to Luke 22. Luke chapter
22. This cup is the cup of the new
covenant. Not the old letter, not the old
law. but the new covenant, the covenant,
the everlasting covenant of mercy in Christ Jesus. Luke 22 verse
19, listen. And he took bread and gave thanks
and bread and gave it to them saying, this is my body which
was given for you, this do in remembrance of me. Likewise,
the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new testament. Covenant in my blood, which is
Shadbead. That's what this cup is. This
cup which we bless, it's the cup of his sufferings, his agony
for our sins, and it's the cup of a new covenant, a new testament
in Christ Jesus. Old things are passed away, all
things become new. Everything fulfilled in him for
us. And then thirdly, this cup is
the cup of salvation. which we bless. This is no ordinary
cup, this is the cup of salvation. Listen, turn to Psalm, David,
Psalm 116. Psalm 116, I love this scripture. In Psalm 116, verse 12. Now, listen to this. Open your Bible, Luke 1, 16,
verse 12. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation,
this cup of his sufferings, this cup, this New Testament, this
cup of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord
and I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of his
people. I'll take it. this cup. And then this cup is
my cup. That's right. His cup of his
sufferings, the cup of his covenant, the cup of his salvation was
my cup. Let's read about it. Psalm, well
you don't need to read it. You already know it by heart.
Psalm 23. Psalm 23 verse 4 and 5. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art
with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me, and thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, and my cup
is running over." It's just running over. It's full and running over. That's what they used to do long
years ago in the oriental times, In the eastern part, we call
the far east or near east, some east, but anyway, when a good
friend came to eat with you, and he held out his cup, and
you took the wine, and you didn't give him a little spot, you didn't
give him a half way, you ran it over. That's letting him know,
my house is your house. My blessing to you, your blessing.
My cup just runs over. It's just full to overflowing
with the blessings of the Lord. And we bless this cup. Let's
go back to our text. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10. The cup of blessing which we
bless. Which we bless. That's why we
gather here to bless this cup. The salvation His new covenant,
His redemption, His atonement, and my cup that runs over. And he says, this cup of blessing
which we bless. How do we bless this cup? This
is no ordinary meal. He said, you have houses to eat
in, well eat in your house. But this is not just an ordinary
meal. This is not just ordinary bread
and ordinary wine. This bread represents the body
of Christ. This wine represents the blood
of the Son of God. And how do I bless it? I bless
it, number one, by faith. By faith. That's what Paul said
over here in 1 Corinthians 11. He said in verse 26, 1 Corinthians
11, As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you
do show the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, whosoever
eats this bread, and drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall
be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that
cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, in an unworthy manner,
in a careless manner, in a meaningless manner, eateth and drinketh damnation
to himself, not discerning the Lord's body, not receiving it
by faith, not receiving it as it's meant to be, for the purpose
for which it's intended, the glory of Him who gave it to us. So we bless this cup by believing. That's what Todd was talking
about the other night. I believe. I believe. I believe
Jesus Christ the Son of God, don't you? And I accept and receive
him by faith. Secondly, we bless this cup by
prayer. When our Lord took the cup, he
gave thanks. When our Lord took the bread
and break it, he gave thanks. I take the cup, I give thanks. I take the bread, I give thanks.
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. And then we bless this cup by
meditation and by discernment. Let a man examine himself, not seeing if he's sinless or
without fault or faith, but being sure that as a sinner he receives
this bread and this wine as God intended it and meant it to be
to redeem us from our sins through his precious blood. Well, let's look at our text
one more time. Chapter 10, verse 16. This cup
of blessings which we bless, is it not the communion of the
blood of Christ? This bread which we break, is
it not the communion of the body of Christ? It's not a ritual.
It's not a saving ordinance. It is the communion of the body
of Christ and the communion of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What does this word communion mean? This bread which we bless
and this cup which we take is the communion of our Lord Jesus
Christ. The word communion denotes three
things. Three things. Number one, it's
a union. Communion is a union. It's our
union with Him. It's His union with us. This
is what He said, I in them and thou in me. This cup is the communion,
my union with Him and His union with me. It's communion. We're
one. This bread is a communion. We're
one. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be one. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption." We're communion. And Paul used that as a picture
of you people who are married, husband and wife. He said the
husband and wife are one. They're one. In the same way
we're one with Christ. You have a marriage union. We
have a marriage union with our Lord. That's right. And then
secondly, this word means communion, means participation. Participation. Let's see if we can give you
some help on that. Turn to Romans 8. Romans 8. This is the communion of the
body of Christ, the blood of Christ, and the body of our Lord. In Romans 8 verse 15, for we
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
we have received the spirit of adoption whereby we might cry,
Abba Father, the spirit himself beareth witness that with our
spirit we're children of God. And if we're children, we're
heirs of God. If so be that we suffer with
him, we'll be raised to God. So communion, it's not just communion,
but union with Christ, it's not just a participation. If God
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him freely give us, participate with Him in all things? Everything is ours in Christ. This is a communion of the blood
of Christ and the body of Christ. This is a union. This is a participation. This is a fellowship. 1 John
chapter 3, chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. This is a fellowship. This is a blessed, blessed fellowship. This is a wonderful, wonderful
fellowship in 1 John 1, 3. Listen. In 1 John 1, 3. that which we've seen and heard
declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with
us and truly our fellowship is with the father and with his
son Jesus Christ and these things write we unto you that your joy
may be full and this is the message which we've heard of him and
declare unto you that God is life And in him is no darkness. If we say we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another. That's me and you, yes, but that's
me and him. We fellowship with him and with
one another. And the blood of Christ cleanses
us from all sin. All right. That's our text. Let me share something else with
you. And I'll be through. First Corinthians
10. Right here. Verse 17. This cup of blessings
which we bless. Is it not the communion, the
union, the participation, the fellowship of the very blood
of the Son of God? This bread which we break. Is
it not the communion, the union, the participation, the riches,
the inheritance, the fellowship of the very body of Christ? Why? We being many are one brain. We being many are one brain. What does that mean? Well, we're
many. Jews, Gentiles, male, female. Bond and free, old and young,
rich and poor, so forth and so on. Just keep talking. We're
many. In fact, he said, I saw a multitude
which no man can number. Multitude, which no man can number. And yet we're one. One body, one brain. One body,
one spirit. One hope, one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God and Father who's above all through you all.
We be many by one bread and one body. As the bread which we bless,
we've got this bread here now, the Lord took the bread, let's
take the, when the Lord took the bread, unleavened bread,
a loaf of bread, loaf of bread. How many grains of corn do you
reckon went into that loaf of bread? You start to think about
it. How many grains of corn make
up a loaf of bread? This corn is gathered from the
field. Many, many, many grains. It's
threshed. It's beaten. It's cast into the
oven. It's broken. It's distributed
out among these disciples and it's eaten. And the Lord says
it's one bag. All these grains of corn make
up one bag. That's how it is. And this wine
which we drink, how many grapes went into this wine? How many
thousands of grapes which are gathered from the Lord's vineyard?
Well, that's a special thing you're not in. He got them. He
has. And they're stomped on. And they're squeezed. And they're
brought together in his own time and stored in a dark place awaiting
the time when they'll make the best possible world. Yet they're just one. All of
these that he's gathered together, grains of corn, and they've been
threshed, and they've been beaten, and they've been broken, and
they've been bruised, and they've been cooked in the Lord's fire,
and then they've been broken, and then they've been given to
somebody to glorify God. And all these grapes, one bread. One bread. and one body. Bread of heaven
on thee I feed, for thy flesh is meat indeed. Ever may my soul
be fed with this true and living bread. Day by day with grace
supplied through the life of my Lord who died. Thine of heaven
thy blood supplies this blessed cup of sacrifice. Tis Thy blood
my healing gives, and to Thy cross I look and live. For Christ
is my life, O let me be always rooted and grounded in Thee. We being many are one blood. We being many are one blood. that we are in that body, in
that precious blood, and in the Savior's house.